Paul Dano has finally addressed Quentin Tarantino's much-discussed slam on him, though he mostly let everyone else do the talking for him. At Sundance ahead of a 20th-anniversary screening of Little Miss Sunshine, Dano was asked about Tarantino calling him the "weakest" actor in SAG and criticizing his work in 2007's There Will Be Blood, per Variety. Before he could answer, Sunshine co-star Toni Collette jumped in: "Are we really going there? F--- that guy! He must've been high ... it was just confusing. Who does that?"
Dano, 41, kept his response measured, saying the wave of public support that followed Tarantino's comments did the job for him. "That was really nice," he said. "I was also incredibly grateful that the world spoke up for me so I didn't have to." Directors Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, who helmed Little Miss Sunshine, also backed Dano, with Dayton calling Tarantino's remarks an "embarrassment" and suggesting Dano's "raw" performance may have unsettled Tarantino. Faris added that the swift defense of Dano showed "he is loved by so many. He is so smart."
The 62-year-old Tarantino sparked the backlash after appearing on Bret Easton Ellis' podcast, where he said There Will Be Blood would have topped his list of 21st-century films if not for Dano, whom he labeled "weak sauce" and "uninteresting," even musing that Austin Butler would've been "wonderful" in the role opposite Daniel Day-Lewis.
Tarantino's takedown triggered even further industry pushback, including George Clooney publicly saying he'd be "honored" to work with Dano and the other actors (Owen Wilson and Matthew Lillard) Tarantino dismissed. The Guardian notes other celebrities who came to Dano's defense, including Ben Stiller, Reese Witherspoon, and Alec Baldwin. People notes that Dano has been nominated for a Golden Globe, two Emmys, and a BAFTA; the BAFTA nod was for his role in There Will Be Blood.
,
uBlock 
,
and
Ghostery 
)
